maple syrup | remus lupin [1]

134. the handkerchief

CLAUDIA WAS SITTING at the dining table, having dinner with her family and, unluckily, Evan Rosier's family as well.

But, the girl was not where she normally would be next to Evan with his hand on her thigh. No, she was sitting in between Nicolas and her grandmother, who clearly had together realised that Claudia needed to be as far away from the wicked boy as possible.

Yet, the fact that she was sitting on the other end of the table didn't stop her from noticing the looks she got from both Evan and her father all dinner.

From Evan, she didn't know what kind of looks they were. Glares or looks of lust? She didn't know.

All she wanted was for him to take his eyes off of her so that she could go back to feeling clean again.

And as for her father, Claudia knew that the looks he sent her was just him trying to see if he could point anything wrong about her out as he sat there with the same damn handkerchief in his right pocket.

And, all she wanted was for him to take his eyes off of her so that she wouldn't lose her mind and curse his guts out.

But, of course, he didn't leave her alone all dinner. Just like Evan didn't. So, she had to sit there as she tried to at least get some food down her throat considering how lucky she was to be getting served food in that place for the first time all summer.

Lucky for her, however, she had gotten food every time that she had left the manor to secretly visit Fayola, who she had been growing closer to every day.

You see, Fayola had so many stories to tell. Stories about Hogwarts, about Claudia's mum and about all her travels.

And Claudia would sit and listen as she forgot to blink and almost to breathe as well due to it being so interesting.

After the food had been fully scraped off the plates and the chatter of politics, Claudia and Evan's ongoing engagement and Nicolas' future had died out, Claudia could finally leave them behind, which she did quickly by running past Evan who was calling after her and then entering her room and slamming the door loudly to make a statement.

Maybe she would pay for that in a few hours time, but she didn't care, becaue they all knew what Evan had done and the fact that they had brought him there like he had done nothing wrong made her sick to her stomach.

And looking at her father and grandmother still made her feel like a burning kettle.

Because they both deserved to rot in Azkaban. Charles for being a murderer and Margaret for protecting him.

After Fayola had told her the truth, Claudia felt completely speechless and baffled. And she wasn't going to lie, it hurt to know what he had done.

It hurt to know that half of her was the blood of a murderer, and it hurt to know that a person could do that to someone. How someone could do that to a brother.